Raymond J. Mahan, 56, of Bayonne, faces up to five years in state prison if found guilty of the theft charge, related to Mahan driving an unmarked police car at the time of the collision. Mahan was suspended without pay following the March 2 incident, which left him and the driver of a second vehicle injured.

Man alleges Jersey City police 'cover-up' to help cop after collision

Jersey City police carried out a "deliberate cover-up" after an early-morning car collision caused by a police lieutenant two months ago, a man injured in the collision says in a new legal filing.

Ramon Lugo, the Jersey City man whose car was struck by an unmarked car driven by Lt. Raymond Mahan on March 2, says in the filing that Mahan was drunk at the time of the collision and did not have his emergency lights activated when he sped through a red light at the intersection before striking Lugo's car.

Lugo, 56, also says officers did not interview him after the crash, a claim that contradicts the accident report police issued after the incident.

Jersey City cop suspended after early morning collision in city car

JERSEY CITY -- A Jersey City police lieutenant who is a commander in the north police district has been suspended without pay after the city car he was driving collided with another car early Thursday morning.

The collision happened at Kennedy Boulevard and Bartholdi Avenue in the city's Greenville section just before 4 a.m. Thursday. City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill told The Jersey Journal the officer, Lt. Raymond Mahan, has been suspended "pending the outcome of the investigation, which concerns all circumstances surrounding the collision."